


Late Night Hot Chocolate

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: HLVRAI Requests [20]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Bubby is also like 'no <3' at those, Bubby is like 'no <3' at Gordon's sad sad brain, Gordon has not good stims sometimes, Gordon is sad, Hot Chocolate, Self Harm, but mild, harmful stimming, head hitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: Gordon's brain is an evil place. Hot Chocolate always helps. Company helps more.
Relationships: Bubby & Gordon Freeman
Series: HLVRAI Requests [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939135
Comments: 5
Kudos: 98





	Late Night Hot Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> Request: heres an interesting one - Worth (gordon and bubby)

Gordon spiraled a lot. He would admit to that freely. Once Gordon got going, he tended to go deep into what ifs and maybes. This was something that he had always done. 

He knew it wasn’t good, but Gordon couldn’t stop himself. Over time, over and over again, he would slip into this, wonder about all these ideas, convince himself, time and time again, that his friends didn’t think he was worth it, that he didn’t matter to them. 

Of course he was awake at three am worrying about that. Of course he was. Gordon groaned, rolling over and covering his head with a pillow, but of course it didn’t work. It never worked. 

So he got up. Gordon slipped on his slippers, shuffling across the floor of his room, kicking aside his jeans from the day and opening the door to move into the kitchen. 

If his head could shut up for two seconds, that would have been wonderful, but it continued on and on, saying how he didn’t deserve them, they would see it soon enough, he wasn’t worth the trouble. 

Gordon thumped the heel of his hand against his temple as he walked into the kitchen, not seeing the figure on the couch. 

Hot chocolate. That’s what he’d do. He’d make hot chocolate. That always used to make him feel better. It was a little difficult with one hand, since he hadn’t bothered to put his prosthetic back on, but whatever. He’d been without it for a few months, and he did go without it sometimes anyways. Gordon could manage it. 

Gordon continued on, thumping the heel of his hand against his temple whenever he set something down, and while he waited for the milk to warm, leaning against the counter and hitting his head with his palm. 

He only stopped when another hand grabbed his wrist, pulling it away from his head. Gordon blinked, lifting his head, but only got a glimpse of Bubby before his head was being turned so xe could look at his temple. 

“You’re bruising.” Xe mumbled, letting go of his hand and going over to the freezer. Gordon blinked at him, as Bubby handed a frozen thing of peas to him. Gordon took it carefully. “I’ll finish the hot chocolate. Go sit.” 

Gordon debated arguing with him, but decided against it. It was easier to just do as he had asked, moving over to the table and sitting there, peas pressed against the side of his head, which did ache a bit now that he was thinking about it. 

Moments later, to him, there was a mug of hot chocolate set in front of him, covered in whipped cream and sprinkles, with a little candy cane stick out of it. Gordon couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face, taking the candy cane and carefully stirring the mug of hot chocolate. 

“Whats wrong?” Bubby asked bluntly, his own mug of hot chocolate held in his hands. Gordon glanced over at him for a moment, before shrugging, staring back down at his hot chocolate. 

“Just... general brain fuckery.” He mumbled, watching the whipped cream spin on top of his hot chocolate as he stirred slowly, tracking the sprinkles as it did. “I dunno... Just got tired of it. Still hasn’t shut up.” He moved his hand, as if he was going to begin hitting his temple again, but Bubby leaned over, pressing his own hand against the back of Gordon’s forcing him to hold the peas there instead. Gordon huffed, watching as the whipped cream slowly began to still, before dropping the bag of peas again to make it spin once more. 

They sat in silence like that for a moment, as they quietly sipped at their respective hot chocolates, and Gordon closed his eyes after a moment. God, he was tired. 

“I want you to know.” Gordon’s eyes flicked open, looking towards Bubby. “That even if I am a prickly bastard, I still care about you, Gordon. You’re still my family, you’re still one of the most important people in my life.” Gordon blinked at him, unable to stop himself from tearing up, but not letting the tears fall, turning back to his hot chocolate. “Your brain lies to you. You are our family. We’re not gonna just up and leave you one day. I can promise that much.” 

Gordon doubted it, just for a moment. It wouldn’t have been the first time, but, he shut that down. He wasn’t going to compare them to the people in his past. He wouldn’t do it. They were better, they had to be. 

Even if he couldn’t believe that he was worth them staying, Gordon could believe they would at least give a reason to leaving. Progress, at the very least. 

Gordon nodded slowly, finishing off his hot chocolate, staring down into the mug sleepily. Bubby huffed a laugh, standing as he finished his own, taking the mug from Gordon, who held onto the pepper mint stick, biting off the end. Bubby rinsed both cups out, then moved back over as Gordon munched on the peppermint quietly, staring off into nothing. 

“C’mon you.” Xe murmured, and Gordon nodded slightly, standing and following along. Bubby settled on the couch, and Gordon settled next to him with minimal hesitation, and, as Bubby leaned back, Gordon leaned against him, clinging, closing his eyes. Bubby hummed softly, the same tone as Benrey’s calm down, and Gordon’s shoulders relaxed. He found himself falling asleep moments later, to Bubby’s soft humming.

**Author's Note:**

> Important note: Bubby is wearing a thumb hole sweater through this. Very important to know.


End file.
